Jury Pays Fine for Convicted Felon

I wish this was one of my satirical articles, sadly, it is not. 19 year old Mendez Ortega stole $5,000 worth of jewelry, including a wedding ring, from a home she was hired to clean in Fairfax, Virginia. After the victims initiated a police investigation into the maids who had cleaned their home, Ortega caved and admitted to Fairfax County Police that she had stolen the rings.

Unable to speak in English, Ortega’s public defender asked the Judge to defer sentencing in light of her “meager wages and harsh life.” The Judge declined this request, and a two day trial commenced where Ortega chose to tell the jurors tragic sob stories, while refusing to take accountability for her crime. Ortega was found guilty of grand larceny, at which time Judge Robert J. Smith imposed a mere $60 fine. The jury, who had “reluctantly” convicted Ortega after hearing what the prosecutor affirmed as outrageous lies, took pity on her and paid Ortega’s fine.

The victim, Lisa Copeland, said she never received an apology from Mendez Ortega — neither written nor in person — and disagreed with the jury’s handling of her case.

“I just pray that they’re never in my shoes,” she told the Post. “If she had accepted accountability, I would be okay with all of this. the fact that she won’t accept accountability makes it wrong.”

Now, sure, compassion is respectable and everyone should get a second chance, but what kind of lesson are we providing here? If you were the victim, would you feel as if justice had been served?